Prequal: The End Of The Beginning
by mysterymaiden7
Summary: Slade is in control now. Our lives are harder, constantly looking over our shoulder. It's difficult to think about what might happen if we're captured. There's no one to turn to anymore. Just ourselves. Rated for mild language and violence.
1. In the Beginning

Chapter 1  
  
_Beast Boy and Satrfire had just beaten Robin and Cyborg 22 games of football, to 21. They were going to be doing the dishes for a long time. Insisting on a celebration, Star wasted twenty minutes just trying to decide on toppings for the pizzas she intended to buy. Raven insisted she didn't care, but meticulously shot down everyone else's ideas. Cyborg was dying for an all meat combo, but Beast Boy absolutely refused, trying to convince everyone veggies were the way to go. No one listened. Finally becoming bored with the discussion, Raven returned to her room to meditate, leaving the boys and Starfire to decide. Finally settling on three large pizzas, one with meat, one cheese, and one veggie, Star took off to retrieve them, leaving the boys playing a game of_ Mega-Destruction: Version 2.0.  
  
"Boo yah!" Cyborg exclaimed, his fingers tapping the keys as quickly as he could manage.  
  
"Come on man!" Beast Boy yelped, nearly tossing the controller in disgust as his character was killed for the fourteenth time.  
  
"Dude, give it up." Robin advised, smirking. "Quit while you still have your dignity."  
  
A rustling noise caused Robin to turn around to see Raven not two feet from him. Damn, she was quiet when it suited her purposes. She surveyed him, her violet eyes impassive.  
  
"Has Starfire returned yet?"  
  
"Naw, but you know Star," Cyborg replied not taking his eyes off the screen, fingers tapping busily, "She'll see some flower and have to smell it, never mind that our pizzas are getting cold." He grinned as the game beeped and Beast Boy's character died once again, screaming piteously in it's robotic voice.  
  
Ignoring Beast Boy's pleas for another game, he handed the controller to Robin. Sidling up next to Raven, he grabbed her in a one-arm hug, "She'll be back soon, so just chill."  
  
Removing Cyborg's hand from her shoulder, Raven backed away, one eyebrow raised.  
  
"Not that you could get any more frigid..." Cyborg grumbled, plopping down on the couch next to Beast Boy.  
  
Raven turned away, if she had heard his comment, she chose to ignore it. She picked up her newest book of the table where she had left it last night and sat to read it. Opening it, she was interrupted by a loud crash.  
  
She looked up from the book, the annoyance apparent on her face. "Would you mind turning that down a bit?"  
  
The other Titans were looking around in puzzlement.  
  
"Uh, that wasn't us." Robin said, glancing at the screen in confusion.  
  
"Than what-?" Raven's question was cut off by an explosion that shook the Tower. Raven was thrown sideways into Beast Boy, both of them going down in a jumble of arms and legs. Robin managed to stay upright by grabbing the table.  
  
"What the hell was that?!" Cyborg yelled, running to the door. Before he could reach it, it was blown off it's hinges by a tremendous blast. The door slammed into him, knocking him back against the far wall.  
  
Raven stood, finally managing to extract herself from Beast Boy. She flipped up her hood and floated into the air, her cloak swirling around her in the wind rushing through the door.  
  
"Get ready Titans." Robin warned as a metal claw punched through the dust at the entrance.  
  
A laugh cut off any other remarks.  
  
"Well, well Titans. It's seems I've caught you one member short. But don't worry, I won't leave her out. She'll be taken care of as soon as I'm done with you."  
  
Slade emerged from the rubble, sitting atop a large robot. "But for now you will have plenty of friends to play with." He said, laughing once again as small versions of his robot began pouring through the door to surround the Titans.  
  
"Titans! Go!" Robin yelled, dodging the laser blast from one of them, while he slashed at another with his staff.  
  
"Azarath Metreon Zinthos!" Raven yelled, black fire raging to consume several robots, tossing them into their fellows.  
  
With a roar of rage, Beast Boy transformed himself into an ox. Bellowing loudly, he rampaged through the middle of the robots, tossing them to the left and right as he charged.  
  
Cyborg threw the door off him, smashing several robots. "You want a piece of this?" He yelled, powering up his cannon. Blasting away furiously, he destroyed several robots before they had even a chance to react.  
  
"Move it or lose it!" He yelled, blasting several more.  
  
Changing from a ox to a crocodile faster than the robots could react, Beast Boy grasped one in his jaws, crushing it. He threw it to the side, slamming it into another before snapping up another in his strong jaws.  
  
Raven dodged and blocked the all too constant barrage of laser blasts. She threw a streamer of black at two robots, effectively blowing them apart. However, the split second her guard was down a laser shot caught her in the shoulder. She winced, gripping her arm, barely managing to block the next shot fired at her.  
  
Robin flipped over the robots, slamming this way and that, destroying the ones that had attacked Raven.  
  
"Get out!" He told her, blocking a laser burst, "You can't help us if you're hurt."  
  
Ignoring him, she sent a blast of black at a robot. "I can't leave you to face this alone! If Star was here, maybe, but now we have no choice."  
  
Robin shoved his staff against one of the robots, sending it spiraling back against the one behind it. "Then stick by one of us. If you feel even the slightest bit-"  
  
She threw herself back into the fight directing her magic with her injured arm, keeping a grip on the wound with her uninjured hand.  
  
"Hey!" Cyborg yelled over the muddle of battle cries. "What are you-?!" He screamed angrily as a robot jumped on his back, puncturing his outer armor with it's claw-like legs. The other robots moved to swarm over him, slowly forcing him down to the ground.  
  
"Cyborg!" Robin yelled, leaping to help him.  
  
Raven blasted several more robots, and backed away. Spinning around to face the next one she found herself face to face with Beast Boy. He gave a small smile. "Time to kick some bad guy butt."  
  
Back to back, they faced the onslaught of robots, Raven blasting and blocking, Beast Boy changing into every animal in his arsenal in order to attack and dodge.  
  
"We can't hold out much longer." Raven said, her voice deathly calm. Her knees buckled and Beast Boy reached out to grab her, noting the silvery blood soaking her cloak.  
  
"Raven!" He braced her, changing into a lion. Slinging her up on his back, he nuzzled her.  
  
_Hold on._ She nodded slightly, her grip on him tightening. _Robin!_ He yelled, leaping over the heads of the robots. _Raven's down! We have to get out of here!  
_  
_Damn!_ Robin mentally swore as he pummeled a robot off Cyborg. _I knew she shouldn't have kept fighting!  
_  
"We have to get out of here!" He told Cyborg hurriedly.  
  
"But the Tower-!"  
  
"Forget it! There's nothing we can do now!"  
  
Grimly, they turned and battled their way toward Beast Boy, who, still in lion form, was attempting to fight off his attackers and, at the same time, keep Raven safe.  
  
_She's still losing blood._ Beast Boy informed them in anguish. His fur was streaked with the silver liquid, and Raven was deathly pale, more so than usual. _We have to get her out of here!_  
  
Raven's eyes were half-closed, her fists gripping Beast Boy's fur. She shivered slightly, her skin going a pale, gray color.  
  
"Toward the door!" Robin ordered. "We have to get out of here and regroup. We can't beat Slade alone."  
  
"Now move!" He yelled, slamming into a robot that got in the way.  
  
The Titans took off for the door, leaping over robots and destroying those that got in the way.  
  
Beast Boy raced through the door first, stopping in the relative safety of the hallway.  
  
"Go!" Robin told him, "We'll follow! Get Raven out of here!"  
  
Frozen by indecision for a moment, his mind was made up as Raven gave a tiny mewl of pain. Swinging around, he took off down the hall, dodging the few robots that decided to follow.  
  
Cyborg battled his way to the door, throwing robots left and right. "Come on Rob!" He yelled, reaching out his hand to yank Robin from the fray.  
  
Stretching out his hand, Robin was caught off guard by the laser blast that slammed into him. Dropping to his knees, he let out a scream of pain.  
  
"Robin!" Cyborg yelled, preparing to dive back into the battle.  
  
"Go!" Robin screamed, lurching to his feet, "Go now! The others need you! I'll be fine!"  
  
Cyborg didn't move, watching his injured friend battle against impossible odds.  
  
"Go now!" Robin yelled again, breaking the spell. Cyborg whirled and wiping his eyes fiercely, took off down the hallway, leaving his friend behind.  
  
All he could hear as he ran was Slade's echoing laughter. 


	2. Healing Old Wounds

Chapter 2  
  
Cyborg left the Tower at a dead run, dodging the laser blasts that followed him.  
  
_Where's Robin?_ Beast Boy asked urgently, falling into a loping run at Cyborg's side.  
  
Cyborg didn't respond. Beast Boy stopped dead, nearly throwing Raven off his back. _You didn't. You wouldn't-  
_  
"Look, I didn't have any choice!" Cyborg said in anguish, his shoulders tense with misery.  
  
_We have to go back! We can't leave him!  
_  
"If we go back, Slade will kill us all."  
  
_But we can't-_  
  
"Just listen! We're going to save him! We just have to a have a plan! But first we need to find Starfire." Cyborg started to move, but Beast Boy stopped him with a growl.  
  
_First- we need to make sure Raven's all right. She's bleeding way too much. We have to bandage her up before she gets worse._  
  
Beast Boy stood quietly while Cyborg lifted Raven off his back and set her gently on the ground. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was fast and shallow. He removed her cape, ripping it into strips as Beast Boy talked to her quietly, trying to keep her awake.  
  
Cyborg wound the bandage around her arm as gently as he could, although she flinched from him a few times and Beast Boy glared- as if he could help it.  
  
"That'll have to do for now." Cyborg said, standing a glancing at Beast Boy's blood streaked outfit, "But she's lost a lot of blood, she's not safe yet. We have to get her somewhere where she can meditate."  
  
"Right." His body protesting the action, Beast Boy returned to lion form, gently nudging Raven back onto his back.  
  
"I could carry..." Cyborg's offer died away to nothing as Raven latched onto Beast Boy, her face hidden in his shaggy coat.  
  
_Let's go._ Beast Boy said, beginning the slow walk down to the water's edge.  
  
Cyborg dived in, shivering slightly at the cold. Beast Boy waded in, stroking strongly to keep Raven above the water. Without a word they started for the shore, kicking and swimming, their aching bodies protesting every movement.  
  
Finally reaching the opposite bank, Beast Boy surged onto shore. Not even bothering to shake the water from his fur he first checked to make sure Raven was okay. Her bandage seemed clean, letting him know the wound had stopped bleeding, but she didn't look much better.  
  
_And she won't until she meditates._ He reminded himself. He set her down against a rock, giving her limp hand a quick lick, he then focused on what Cyborg was saying.  
  
"-search the whole damned city. She could be anywhere." Looking frustrated, he faced the city, spreading his arms to encompass it all.  
  
_Dude,_ Beast Boy said trying to keep an edge of annoyance out his voice- This wasn't helping Raven!- _Try using the communicator.  
_  
Cyborg looked startled at the suggestion. "Man... I must be more rattled than I thought." Grabbing his communicator he barked. "Starfire! Where are you?! We have an emergency!"  
  
"Cyborg?" Her startled voice responded, crackling slightly at the static. "What is it? What has happened?"  
  
"Damnitt Star!" He yelled, his increasing anxiety getting the better of him, "Just get back here now!"  
  
The communicator crackled off, Star having given no reply.  
  
_You shouldn't have yelled at her._ Beast Boy offered an edge of anger to his voice. _She doesn't know what's been going on.  
_  
"Well she should have!" Cyborg yelled, knowing he was being unfair and not caring, "If she had been here when Slade attacked Robin would be fine and not-"  
  
"Not what?" Star landed beside them, her eyes overflowing with tears. "What has happened to Robin?"  
  
Cyborg instantly shut his mouth, startled by her guilt-ridden eyes. "Star, I didn't mean-"  
  
She ignored him, "What has happened?"  
  
Slowly, Beast Boy explained what had happened. Cyborg remained silent, feeling too guilty to contribute.  
  
_-and we got out of there. We couldn't do anything else._ Beast Boy finished quietly.  
  
"We must rescue him." Star decided instantly, then slumped slightly, "As soon as we care for your wounds of course." She stepped over to grab Raven, but Beast Boy got to her first.  
  
_I've got her. We just need a place to go._  
  
"I know where we can go." Cyborg finally spoke up. "It's not a great place, but better than nothing."  
  
_Lead on._ Beast Boy said after a brief silence.  
  
OOOOO  
  
Beast Boy pushed open the door with his nose, carrying Raven inside the darkened house. _Where are we?_ He asked.  
  
"My family used to own this." Cyborg said finally. "We don't use it anymore, but Slade will never look for us here."  
  
Beast Boy headed up the stairs, seeking a room to put Raven in. Starfire entered the house last, silently.  
  
"Star..." Cyborg started hesitantly, not sure of what to say to her.  
  
"Cyborg, I understand. You do not have to say anything,"  
  
He shook his head, faintly amazed at her brush-off. However, the dark look in her eyes didn't go away, and neither did his guilt.  
  
Beast Boy came back down the stairs, human again for the moment. "She said she needed to be alone." He said by way of explanation, but the look in his eyes told a different story.  
  
"We must decide what to do about Robin." Starfire said, drawing their attention to the issue once again.  
  
"We have to go back there." Cyborg said, slamming his fist into the tabletop. "We have to get him back!"  
  
Everyone began talking, expressing opinions, ideas, plans, anything they thought they could use.  
  
After a long while, the Titans sat in silence. They had thrown ideas around the table for nearly four hours. None of them came close to anything they could use to outwit Slade. Defeated now, they sat in silence, not trusting themselves to speak.  
  
"What are we going to do?" Star asked finally, breaking the silence.  
  
Everyone turned as Raven walked down the stairs, pressing one hand against the wall for support. Beast Boy instantly got up to help her, but she ignored him and he sat down again looking defeated.  
  
"We go. Without a plan. Because Robin needs us, and sitting around here isn't helping him."  
  
"Right." Star instantly stood up, looking toward Raven. "Are you certain you are strong enough?"  
  
"We'll find out soon." Raven responded, leading the way to the door.  
  
OOOOO  
  
_What? Where am I? What happened? I opened my eyes, the room spinning in front of me. My whole body hurts, the laser wounds stinging and burning.  
  
"Permission to commence downloading?" A robotic voice said faintly.  
  
"Very good." Slade? But how did he- "Commence."  
  
My mind is ripped apart and I am thrown into darkness once again.  
_  
OOOOO  
  
Star landed outside Titan Tower, her feet touching on the dirt moments before the others arrived.  
  
She surveyed her meager force with all the scorn of a general going into battle. Raven skin was a grayish color and she staggered slightly when she landed. Beast Boy appeared fine, but she had seen for herself the scorch marks on his skin. Cyborg had puncture marks on several of his metal components. And still they wanted to fight.  
  
_If only I'd been there!_ Her mind screamed for what had to be the millionth time since returning to face this nightmare. Cyborg was wrong. It wasn't him that put the idea in her head that she was responsible, it was herself. As much as her rational side wanted to argue to the contrary- She couldn't have known, it wouldn't have mattered- She couldn't help feeling horribly guilty.  
  
_Stop feeling sorry for yourself!_ She ordered, _This is about helping Robin!_  
  
"Are we ready?" She heard herself ask. No one responded, but she knew the answer already.  
  
"Let's do this." 


	3. Rescue

Chapter 3  
  
The Titans ran for the Tower, hoping against hope that Slade hadn't activated the defense grid, but willing to deal with it if he had.  
  
However, they reached the front door without mishap.  
  
"We need something to block us in case of laser fire." Star commanded, falling into the roll of leader so quickly it bothered her. Without speaking, Raven summoned a glowing black shield. She extended it to the exact width and height of the door, before entering first.  
  
Laser fire ricocheted off the shield, slamming against the walls and sides of the hallway, but none passing the shimmering black to hit any of the Titans. Raven dropped the shield allowing the others to open fire and fell back as blasts from Cyborg's cannon and a barrage of starbolts caught the robots directly, blowing them apart.  
  
The Titans proceeded through the hall, destroying the army of robots that came toward them. Although they no longer had Robin, the Titans knew the Towe'rs every corridor and hallway. Information Slade didn't have. They also knew the best way to approach the main room- the room they hoped Robin was being held in.  
  
Star opted for the in-your-face tactic, hoping it would take Slade by surprise, although not much did. She blasted the door open, the other Titans rushing through in her wake.  
  
The room was silent for a moment. The Titans looked around astonished. Hundreds of robots filled the room, climbing on the ceilings, the walls, the floor. Each robot seemed frozen for a moment, before turning to regard the intruders with their robotic eyes.  
  
The view screen on the far wall flickered to life, Slade's face appearing like a bad dream.  
  
"Ah, Titans. I thought you would come back. And Starfire too this time. We missed you last time my dear."  
  
"Where is Robin?" She said furiously, her eyes glowing an angry green.  
  
"With me of course. So noble of him to sacrifice himself so you could all run like cowards."  
  
"Don't listen to him." Raven said quietly. "He's just trying to mess with us."  
  
"But if you'd like him back, you'll have to come and get him."  
  
The view screen flickered off, and, like a switch had been thrown, the robots all began to attack.  
  
All the Titans would have been destroyed in the initial attack, so unexpected was it, but Raven threw a glowing orb around them all, sheltering them from the lasers.  
  
When the firing stopped, the Titans emerged blasting before the robots had time to reload and recover.  
  
Starbolts seemed to pour from Star's hands as she summoned and threw them as quickly as she could manage, hardly stopping for an instant. Cyborg forgot about hand-to-hand fighting and used every weapon he had, lasers and cannon fire raining down. Raven was weaker than the others, but she continued to fight, dodging laser blasts, blocking those she couldn't, destroying robots at every opportunity. Despite her insistence that she didn't need him, Beast Boy continued to fight at her side, changing so rapidly, he looked like a blur of green.  
  
So intent on protecting themselves, that for several minutes after, they didn't realize the robots were all destroyed. Breathing heavily, Starfire returned to the view screen, summoning up Slade's image.  
  
"Anyone have any idea where he is?" She demanded, her voice edged with ice.  
  
Raven stepped up to the keyboard, manipulating a few knobs. The image extended, until a single spot was visible.  
  
"I think that's a window." She twisted the dial once more bringing the image into sharper focus. It was a window, barely visible in the overall picture, but obvious when spotted.  
  
"You can see the Tower through it." She pointed out, though it was hardly necessary anymore. "If you take the angle it's at, in addition to the placement of the stars around it..." Typing busily, she didn't react when Beast Boy stepped up beside her.  
  
"A warehouse on the west side." She said finally. "I can't pinpoint the location any better than that."  
  
"There's about seven." Beast Boy said, looking at the map Raven had brought up on the screen. "We'll have to search them all."  
  
Without another word, the Titans took off, leaving behind the wreckage of the robots and the Tower.  
  
They arrived at the warehouses, landing silently on the docks near them.  
  
Star set her fingers to her lips, though it was hardly necessary, and opened the first door with barely a whisper of sound. She glanced inside, her eyes glowing a light green, then shoved open the door.  
  
"Empty." She told the others, rejoining them.  
  
They nodded and moved on to the next, searching each before venturing to the next.  
  
They stood silently in front of the last. Star spread out her arm, indicating where they should position themselves. She set her hand on the knob, then retracted it. Summoning a starbolt, she slammed the door with everything she had, blowing it off it's hinges and into the darkness inside.  
  
The Titans rushed forward, each prepared for the worst. Star first, the others close behind her, she raced into the darkness. An explosion made the ground shudder as she turned back to realize a second door had slammed into place, trapping the other Titans outside. Rage threatened to overtake her. Trembling with anger, she turned to face what awaited her.  
  
Slade stood alone. Holding Robin's limp body in his arms. Silently, he set Robin down on the floor. Then, dropping into a defensive crouch, he motioned at her.  
  
Starfire leapt over Robin's prone body and attacked Slade head-on. Dodging her volley of starbolts, he was caught off guard by the punch she aimed at his stomach. Packed with the destructive power of a starbolt, it blew him off his feet and into the far wall. Flipping in mid-air he struck the wall feet-first, flipping back to land in front of her. He struck out in a punch, but when she ducked to dodge, he caught her with a kick. Skidding across the floor, she came to rest near Robin. She pushed herself to her knees, her eyes aglow with hatred.  
  
He was closer than she thought. Yanking her head up by the hair, his eyes froze her inside and out. "Pathetic." He slammed with fist into her face, causing her to cry out and hover into the air to escape him. Her nose bled freely, the crimson blood flowing down to stain her clothing.  
  
"Pathetic." He repeated again, laughing with malice. "I do not know why Robin fights for you. You are beneath him. It demeans him to be seen with you pathetic creatures."  
  
"That's not true." Slade twitched and whirled on Robin as he picked himself up from the floor unsteadily. "They're my friends."  
  
Star slammed into Slade from behind, throwing him into the shadows near the back of the warehouse.  
  
"This isn't over!" He yelled, as he turned and ran into the shadows.  
  
Star turned to follow him, but stopped when Robin sank to his knees on the floor. She instantly floated down to him, gingerly helping him to his feet.  
  
"Are you injured?" She asked worriedly, her eyes wide.  
  
"Nothing too bad. Where are the others?"  
  
"Slade locked them out... I only hope nothing has happened to them..."  
  
Star raised one hand keeping the other around Robin's waist, a glowing starbolt encasing her fist. She threw it at the metal door, that, with an extraordinary explosion, blasted open.  
  
Coughing from the dust, Star led Robin outside to see her friends finishing off the last of a group of robots.  
  
"Robin! Star!" Cyborg ran over as soon as he caught sight of them. "Damn Star! When that door closed on us we thought... We were trying to get in but the robots attacked, man, if Raven hadn't blocked us... Where's Slade? What happened in there?"  
  
Supporting Robin still, Star remained silent for a moment after the barrage of questions. "Slade was alone. We fought, but he got away."  
  
"Star, are you hurt?" Robin asked, finally noting the blood stains on her outfit, the darkness having concealed them earlier.  
  
"It is nothing." She told him, ignoring her injuries. Beast Boy walked over, supporting an exhausted Raven.  
  
"It's good to see you." She told Robin with a small smile.  
  
"And you." He responded, "I'm glad you're all right."  
  
"So where do we go from here?" Star said, wiping blood from her face with her free hand.  
  
"Back to the Tower." Robin said. "We'll have to start over."  
  
OOOOO  
  
_They've fallen straight into my trap, the naive fools.  
  
They have no idea what I have in store for them.  
  
And they won't. Not until it's too late.  
_  
OOOOO  
  
**Author's Note:** My next section of this story will begin two years later. After Slade has had time to form his master plan. I'll start again when the Titans get attacked and continue from there. Keep R&Ring! Thanks!  
  
MysteryMaiden7 


	4. Two Years Later

Sorry it's taken so long to get another chapter out. Didn't really have any good ideas...

Chapter 4  
  
_It's been two years. Two years since Slade's attack. We've fought the few villains that bother to show up. Protected the city. That whole deal. But nothing is really the same.  
  
Robin's been really quiet since his capture. He says nothing is wrong, but we can tell. He hardly comes out of his room anymore. God only knows what he does in there all the time. He just kind of loses himself in whatever he's doing. He's still our leader, in a sense. He plans battles, and leads us to victory and all that, but his heart isn't in it.  
  
Beast Boy's been trying harder than usual to make him laugh, to make everyone laugh, but it doesn't really work, not that it ever has. But he seems to think that if he just goofs off a little more, everything will go back to the way it was.  
  
That glimmer in Star's eyes has, dimmed. She doesn't smile as often now. I think Robin's silence is getting to her. She used to pretend that everything was okay, try to get us all to join in, but now she doesn't even bother. It's pretty obvious she blames herself, although we've told her enough times that it wasn't her fault.  
  
Cyborg seems angry. Not like he used to be. He goes into battle with a gleam in his eye, and until he's completely obliterated everything in sight he's not satisfied. He and Star have really grown apart. I don't think he ever really forgave himself for saying those things about her, and she never really tried to forgive him.  
  
Sure, we all act the same, but everyone knows that the battle changed us.  
  
Strangely, despite everything that's been going on, or maybe because of it, me and Beast Boy have grown closer together. He doesn't act all happy around me, and I kind of prefer it that way. Seeing a more serious side of him that is.  
  
He says I'm quieter than I used to be, but I don't really notice anymore. No one really talks, so how can you tell? We mostly talk to each other since theirs no one else, but we never talk about what happened of course, no one really talks about that.  
  
It's hard to imagine what was different about this battle than any of the others. I mean, we've been captured before, hurt more times than we can count. We've fought for our lives more than once. But I think it was the fact that we realized Robin's not untouchable. He's not invincible. And that scares us more than anything else.  
_  
OOOOO  
  
"Don't you ever read anything that's not so depressing?" Beast Boy asked, from where he sat on Raven's bed, idly flipping through one of her many books.  
  
"No." She replied, opening one eye to regard him from her spot in the center of the room, hovering slightly off the ground.  
  
"Don't you get bored of it though?"  
  
"Haven't we had this conversation?" She asked, effectively silencing him. He was quiet so long, she wondered if he left. She opened one eye to see him silently watching her.  
  
"What?" She asked defensively, opening both eyes.  
  
"Nothing." He responded, picking up the book again, and leafing through it- upside down.  
  
She dropped down onto her feet again, snatching the book from him and setting it on her shelf.  
  
"I'm obviously not going to get any meditation done while you're here, so why don't you tell me what's bothering you, so I can get back to work."  
  
She instantly regretted saying anything as his face crumpled slightly, his position on the bed becoming more slumped.  
  
"What happened to us Raven? To the team?" His voice was quiet, but carried a load of emotion she wasn't sure if she would be able to handle.  
  
"Nothing happened to us... exactly." She responded warily, dropping down on the bed near him- close, but not too close.  
  
He gave a tired sigh. "Nothing? How can you say that? Robin never comes out of his room anymore. He and Star are like strangers, not the way they used to be. She's not happy anymore. And as annoying as that could get, it was who she was- she just mopes around now. And Cyborg is... I don't know, bloodthirsty. Like he wants to take out his anger on anything that gets too close. And you're-"  
  
He stopped, looking up at her. "You're... you." He finished finally.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Nothing. I just- never mind." He stood up, walking to the door. "I'll leave you alone now, I know you wanted to meditate. Is that okay?"  
  
_No, it's not okay!_ She wanted to yell at him, but she didn't. "You're right." She heard herself say, "It's fine, I'll catch you later."  
  
OOOOO  
  
Star floated lazily around the common room once again. She desperately wanted to get out of the Tower and get some air, it was stifling in here, in more ways than one.  
  
But she couldn't. What if they needed her? Or worse, what if someone attacked, and she wasn't there?  
  
She glanced out into the hall, hearing the door open. Beast Boy exited Raven's room looking as tired as she felt. He stopped when he saw her, and straightened up, mustering a smile.  
  
"Hey Star. What's shakin'?"  
  
"Nothing is shaking," She responded confused.  
  
"It's just a saying Star." He said with a sigh. In any other case he would have found that amusing. Now it just... wasn't.  
  
"Oh." Instead of embarrassing herself further, she ducked back into the common room, waiting until she was sure Beast Boy had left before venturing into the hallway once more.  
  
Tiptoeing to Robin's room, she knocked lightly on the door once. But just once. She stood and waited for a response, although they were becoming rarer. The more time he seemed to spend in his room, the less time he seemed to have for anyone else.  
  
Just as she was about to give up, the door slid open. She stepped into the shadowy emptiness of Robin's room, wishing she could see a bit better. She caught sight of him, hunched over his computer screen, typing busily, his skin bathed in the greenish glow of the screen.  
  
"Robin?"  
  
He made a noise, somewhere between a grunt and a throat-clear. She took that to mean he was listening.  
  
"Would you care to go to the park with me?" She didn't really want to, but if it could get Robin out of his room, she was willing to frolic around the park until she puked.  
  
"No thanks. I'm kinda' busy right now."  
  
She felt like she was about to cry. _You're always busy!_ She yelled silently. Instead, she nodded, excepting the inevitable.  
  
"I'm sorry I bothered you." In all that time, he hadn't even bothered to turn around. He didn't even respond as she let herself out of the room.  
  
She wiped the tears from her eyes, almost laughing at herself. _You knew what he was going to say! Why torture yourself?  
_  
OOOOO  
  
Robin looked up when Star left, the door closing behind her, enclosing him in darkness once again.  
  
_You could have said yes._ He chided himself, slumping over his desk. _Or at least pretended you were paying attention to what she was saying.  
_  
With a weary sigh, he rubbed his gloved hands over his face. How had this happened? The team was falling apart at his feet. But for some reason he couldn't summon the energy to care.  
  
_It's taken us two years to get where we are. I don't think I could stop it if I wanted to._ What had happened to him?  
  
Maybe it was those nagging snatches of memory at the back of his mind. Or the fact that he couldn't remember what happened to him during the hours Slade had control over him.  
  
Unconsciously, he rubbed the small scar on the back of his neck. That may have been the biggest mystery of all. He couldn't remember where he had gotten it. _During the battle, or after?_  
  
Shuddering slightly now, he eyed the doorway. Maybe he should go out for a bit. He was kind of hungry. His computer beeped and he turned back to eye the information scrolling across the screen.  
  
Maybe he would, right after he finished this.  
  
Turning back to the computer screen he immersed himself in the data once again.  
  
OOOOO  
  
_Beep! Beep! Beep!_  
  
The unfamiliar sound roused Raven from her trance. She glanced around for a moment, confused. _What was-?_  
  
_Her communicator!_ The thought hit her as she recognized the shrill beep. She grabbed the device off her bed.  
  
"What?" She snapped into it.  
  
"We have an emergency," Beast Boy's voice chirped, "It's Slade."


	5. Revelations

Chapter 5  
  
The Titans assembled in the main room, each wearing an expression of intense worry.  
  
Robin paced in front of them, muttering to himself as he strode around the room. Raven finally entered, and he looked up impatiently.  
  
"It's Slade." He told them unnecessarily. "He's launching a major attack against the bridge. Robots are breaking through the cables, soon the whole thing is going to go under, with a whole bunch of people on it."  
  
"We have to stop him!" Beast Boy piped up, "We can't let those people get hurt!"  
  
"Yes, we must keep Slade from doing harm to innocent people." Starfire chimed in.  
  
"And we can finally kick his ass!" Cyborg yelled, punching a fist into the air.  
  
"We have to be careful though," Raven said, the group turning to look at her, "This is probably a trap."  
  
"It doesn't matter, we have to try and rescue them!" Robin shot back.  
  
Raven flipped up her hood, covering her eyes. "Fine."  
  
"Let's go!" Cyborg yelled from his position near the door.  
  
The other Titans raced out the door, leaving Raven to her thoughts.  
  
A gentle hand on her arm made her look up for a moment.  
  
"I know you're worried." Beast Boy told her, with an uncharacteristic seriousness, "But if we look out for each other, we should be safe."  
  
"I hope so. I don't think the team could take another blow after what we've already been through."  
  
OOOOO  
  
The Titans raced to the bridge, seeing the chaos Slade had caused almost immediately.  
  
Robots swarmed over the entire thing, covering nearly every inch. Terrified people, trapped on the bridge during the attack, sat huddled on the tops of their cars, menaced by robots if they even though about escape.  
  
"Teen Titans! Go!" Robin yelled, leaping into the fray.  
  
Starfire and Raven hovered up over the mess below to attack the robots that were busy demolishing the bridge.  
  
"Boo yah!" Cyborg yelled, powering up his cannon. He aimed it at a robot and fired, the blast forcing him back a step. He grinned as the smoke cleared, then stepped back with an expression of shock, as the very same robot reared out of the carnage and attacked him. Grappling with it, he stumbled, going down under it's assault.  
  
Starfire became separated from Raven, blasting the robots with starbolts to no avail. A swarming mass of robots rose off the bridge and flew toward her, firing laser blasts. She ducked and dodged, performing a nearly impossible array of twists and dives to avoid each of their blasts. She fired at them several times when the opportunity presented itself, but the starbolts bounced harmlessly away.  
  
Raven summoned her powers and surrounded herself in a protective bubble to keep herself safe from the robots assaults. _How does he know?!_ Her mind screamed. Her attacks were useless, deflected by protective shields the instant she unleashed them.  
  
Her mind was in an uproar as she watched Starfire manage to destroy a single robot, a tiny dent when compared with the multitudes attacking them. Cyborg had disappeared a while ago, save for the angry screams that echoed around the bridge. Beast Boy was trying desperately to avoid a single large robot, which seemed intent on crushing him, despite his efforts to evade it. Robin fought off the robots from a small family, a husband, wife and daughter. Never managing to destroy the creatures, just deflect their shots so they didn't injure the terrified people. Raven hovered down and surrounded the family in a protective shield of her power.  
  
"We're losing! We need to pull back and figure out what to do!"  
  
Robin glared at her, his mask concealing the expression in his eyes. "If we leave now Slade wins! We're not going anywhere!"  
  
"Do you think it will matter who wins if we're all dead!" She screamed at him, her anger getting the better of her for a moment and shattering her concentration.  
  
"Just get the family out of here!" He ordered angrily.  
  
She hoisted the bubble, concentrating on setting it outside the range of the laser fire. Sweat poured down her face. It was so hard to concentrate... All the noise, the screams, the laser fire... Her concentration slipped and the bubble plunged. She managed to grab it at the last minute, hoisting it to safety. She let her power flow away, visibly shaking from the strain.  
  
A desperate scream cut through the air, causing her to look up. Star plunged into the water below, the water turning crimson from the blood pouring out of a laser wound in her side.  
  
"Star! No!" Raven cried out, unable to do anything as a robot swooped down, scooping her from the water and carried her away.  
  
"Star!" Robin leapt over a few robots, but the others surrounded him, keeping him from rescuing her.  
  
As exhausted as she was, Raven managed to fend off a few attacks from the oncoming robots. The final shot caught her unaware, she could only watch as it sped toward her, too late to summon a barrier between her and it.  
  
Beast Boy leaped toward her, shoving her off the car and to safety as the beam hit him instead.  
  
"Beast Boy!" She screamed, pulling herself over to his still form.  
  
She grabbed his hand, squeezing it desperately. "Please don't be dead..."  
  
His eyes fluttered open and he grinned weakly. "Would you miss me if I was?"  
  
She choked on a sob, forcing herself to check him over for wounds. The shot had caught him in the shoulder, burning a single hole directly through his arm. Without thinking, she ripped a strip of cloth off her cape and bandaged his arm, the same as he had done for her years ago.  
  
He winced, but remained silent as she pressed her palm to the wound to stop the bleeding.  
  
"We're not going to make it out of here, are we?" He whispered to her, the hopelessness of the situation weighing down on him.  
  
"Sure we will..." She murmured, trying not to cry. "We'll be fine... We just-"  
  
He ignored her stuttering explanation, knowing she was only trying to make him feel better. "Just listen..." She looked up at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears.  
  
"We're not getting out of here. We're all probably going to die. But I want-" He broke off, unsure of what to say, but it didn't matter, she already understood.  
  
She leaned in and kissed him, holding him as if she was afraid of losing him. He kissed her back, allowing himself for the briefest second to relax and forget everything except the feel of her lips on his.  
  
They separated and she smiled weakly. "Beast Boy... I... I-"  
  
A robot threw the car away from them, revealing their hiding place at last. The monstrous machine reached down and grabbed Raven, throwing her away, before leaning down to grab Beast Boy, who by now, was struggling desperately to get away.  
  
Raven didn't even have to worry about hitting the ground. She was picked up by a machine and it carried her away, unconscious, leaving the boys to face the onslaught alone.  
  
"Raven!" Beast Boy yelled as he squirmed futilely against the grip of a robot as it lifted off and carried him away.  
  
Cyborg was not far behind as his hard-drive crashed and the robots swarmed over him to carry him away as well.  
  
Leaving Robin to face the robots alone. Low laughter interrupted him as he fought off the advances of the robots. The robots immediately stopped moving, all eyes trained on a point just behind Robin.  
  
"You're the last I see. Although I expected no less of you Robin."  
  
Breathing heavily, he turned to face the man that had haunted his dreams for so long. "Slade..."  
  
"I suppose you're wondering how I managed to defeat you so easily. It was quite simple really. And actually, I have you to thank for it."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Robin asked angrily.  
  
"You know... When I captured you two years ago. I took your memories Robin, everything about you. Your likes, dislikes, feelings, emotions. But most importantly I took your memories. Everything you had ever learned about your friends, the Tower, your own weapons. And then I let your friends take you back. Because I didn't need you any more. Then I waited, planned for so long. Until today. I was finally ready. And so my planning comes to fruition. Your friends are captured, about to die, my robots are overrunning the city as we speak and Robin? It's all thanks to you."  
  
Robin wanted to deny it, wanted to smash Slade's mask apart and pummel him until he begged for mercy. But the worst part was... He was right. Robin had sentenced his friends to death. And there was nothing he could do about it.  
  
The robots surrounded Robin, who gave in without a fight, dropping his staff as they secured him and dragged him away.  
  
OOOOO  
  
**Author's Note:** Sorry it took me so long to update. Family trip to Wisconsin for a Great Aunt's memorial. (VERY LONG DRIVE!) Oh well. I hope you like the newest chapter. The next will start with... Well, you'll just have to read and find out. Suffice to say it will be long. And it should be good. Although I'm starting to wonder if I've lost my flair...?  
  
MysteryMaiden7 


	6. Injuries of the Heart

**Author's Note:** Okay, I'm not going to drag this out to be a long horrible nightmare for the characters. Although, in story-land time, it was quite a while, several years in fact, so it was anyway. But we're going to cut it down to one chapter. Each of the Titans is going to go through their own personal hell during this time. I'm not going to tell you who is who, but you'll probably figure it out yourselves anyway. You also have to keep in mind this happened to them for a long, long time. This was not a one-day thing. This happened until Aqualad came... I hope the next chapter won't be so sad.   
  
Chapter 6  
  
_It's so dark... And so cold... Where am I? Not at the Tower... But then where could I be? Is this a nightmare? It must be... I have to be dreaming...  
_  
crunch... crunch...  
  
_What's that?! A noise... Who is it? Why won't they come out? Are they trying to scare me?  
  
Well they shouldn't bother themselves. I'm already scared. For my friends, who I might never see again. For myself.  
  
Trapped. In this dark little space. With no one to hear me calling for them... No one to hear me crying into the dark.  
  
I wish I had a light. Anything to break through the darkness that surrounds me. Suffocates me.  
  
I've tried so many times to use my powers I feel dizzy. But nothing comes. No reassuring warmth, no light to penetrate the darkness-  
  
Nothing.  
  
Silence, darkness.  
  
I am alone.  
_  
OOOOO  
  
_Hurting. All over. Can't think. Don't even dare to breath. Just in case.  
  
In case they come back. I can't take it if they hurt me again...  
  
I tried not to scream- in the beginning. But they just kept going, until I wept uncontrollably. I can't even scream now. My voice is horse from trying.  
  
They've stopped. For how long I don't know. But I can't even cry any more.  
  
I'm so tired. So tired I can't concentrate. Can't think about anything. Not even my own name.  
  
I hurt all over... The pain takes my breath away. I wish they'd kill me.  
  
I've begged for death so many times... I can't even think of a time I wasn't crying for them to end my life so I could be free of this torture.  
  
I was the only one who never felt anything, never cared about anything. But I can't even breath anymore. The pain surrounds me, cutting me off from anything else.  
  
Are the others suffering like I am? I hope not. I hope to god I am the only one. The only one.  
_  
thump...  
  
_What's that?! Are they back?! No! Please don't let them hurt me again! Please! I'll do anything! Just don't hurt me anymore...! Don't...!  
  
AHHHHHHHHHH!  
_  
OOOOO  
  
_Running. Keep running. Don't stop. Never stop.  
  
They'll get you if you do.  
  
Keep moving. Gotta' keep moving. It's the only way to escape them. Can't hide. Nowhere to hide.  
  
Gotta' keep moving. Gotta' keep running.  
  
A cliff! Jump. Change. Fly. Faster! Can't stop.  
  
I can hear them. Coming closer... No! Gotta' run. Gotta' get away.  
  
Change! Move! Behind, over, under, swerve, dive, dodge... Move, move, move, movemovemove...  
  
They're getting closer! Their breath is harsh in my ears. Their footfalls thundering behind me.  
  
So tired... Have to stop...  
  
NO! Run! Move! Change! Now!  
  
Can't run anymore. Falling. Can't keep running. I can barely breath.  
  
No... Don't...  
  
Laughter.  
  
Pain. Splitting through my mind like a lightning bolt.  
  
Gotta' get away! The pain!  
  
Jump to my feet. Keep running. No escape.  
  
Keep running...  
_  
OOOOO  
  
_I wake up.  
  
I can feel... A metal table. Pressing into my spine. My hands, are cuffed to it. I can't look around.  
  
But I can feel what they're doing to me.  
  
Tinkering with my insides, I can hear them.  
  
I feel my arm go numb. Like it isn't even there anymore. I try to move it. Can't.  
  
My leg goes next. God no. They're taking over my body. Shutting me down. And I can't do anything.  
  
There goes my other arm. No, this can't be happening...  
  
But it is. Little by little my whole body goes. I can't even blink anymore.  
  
Soon. Soon I won't even be around any more. The end is coming. I can tell. There go my lips. And my tongue. Can't even scream anymore. Not that there's anyone to hear.  
  
I'm crying, through eyes that can't even move. Silent tears slip down my face. Yet they continue, unmoved by my suffering.  
  
I'll be gone soon. Nothing left of who I was. No one to remember, no one to care.  
  
I'm sorry to everyone. I can only hope they aren't suffering as horribly as I am. Maybe they're happy. Maybe they're dead.  
  
I don't know. And soon, soon it won't matter.  
  
Numb. Cold.  
_  
OOOOO  
  
_Laughter. On and on and on and on and on and on and...  
  
Never stopping. Never ceasing. Never.  
  
All around me. Day and night.  
  
Failure! Stupid! Fool! The ridicules come from nowhere- and everywhere. From my mind? From Slade?  
  
Hard to tell anymore.  
  
My fault. Everything.  
  
Loser!  
  
My friends- gone. My fault.  
  
Nothing!  
  
The city- taken over. My fault.  
  
Zero!  
  
Slade is in control. My fault. Always my fault.  
  
Laughter.  
_  
OOOOO  
  
**Author's Note:** Short, I know. But the next chapter will be better. I hope... MysteryMaiden7 


	7. Cruel Fate

Chapter 7  
  
"All is going as planned Master Slade. The take-over of Altantis is commencing. Soon the last pockets of resistance will be eliminated."  
  
"Good." Lazily Slade waved away the robot that had given him the report.  
  
A human wearing a uniform approached hesitantly and bowed low before the villain.  
  
"Yes?" He asked impatiently.  
  
"Sir, we encountered a problem with the psychic girl. During one of our sessions she was severely injured."  
  
"What?! You know your orders! None of them are to be killed!"  
  
"Yes, Master Slade. She was recovered with little trouble and is now conscious."  
  
"Good, good." Slade nodded slightly. "And the others?"  
  
"All the same. The Tameranian was active yesterday."  
  
"Yes? That hasn't happened for some time."  
  
"She cried for some time. But eventually stopped."  
  
"And Robin?"  
  
"The same. He seems to have lost his mind. He talks to himself constantly. We have him attached to an automated feeding system, otherwise he would have perished long ago."  
  
"Yes, I was made aware when he refused to eat. What about the robot?"  
  
"Off-line sir. He has not been activated since your first orders regarding his termination."  
  
Slade nodded slowly. "And the Changling?"  
  
"Collapsed again yesterday sir. We used the shockers as you ordered, but he didn't recover for quite some time. Although he is moving again this morning."  
  
"Fine. You may go." Slade turned back to his console in silence, waiting until he heard the door slide closed behind him. He turned around, folding his hands against his chest, staring at he door in contemplation.  
  
The Titans. His easiest victory. He had long since rid himself of that particular menace. They were all prisoners in his fortress now. Most didn't even speak anymore. Except to scream.  
  
He allowed a small smile to flicker across his facade before he retained his stone-like composure. They were weak. For a short time he had entertained thoughts of forcing Robin to become his apprentice, but those thoughts had eventually faded away into nothing. Why should he need such a pathetic wretch?  
  
He was Slade. Master of Earth. All humans had been slowly bent and molded to his will. Of course, they had resisted in the beginning, but he had beaten them down with the sheer force of his will, and the overwhelming robotic attacks he had launched.  
  
The only ones who dared to still oppose him were the Atlantians. His fists clenched at the thought of the arrogant fools. He had offered them a chance to become his allies. His second-in-command. A moment of supreme weakness on his part. Yet they had refused.  
  
So he had done what he needed to. He attacked them directly. It had taken some time just to turn back their outer defenses. However, slowly but surely he was defeating them. Sending them back to the pathetic crevices they had first emerged from.  
  
He smirked at the memory of the Titans. Not the ones he kept locked away. Oh no. These were the others. Wildabeest, Speedy, Hotstreak. They had tried to assist the Atlantians for a time. To fight him off. But they had all died. And for opposing him he had made sure it was not the quick clean death of a laser blast. Rather a horrible screaming nightmare of pain, until they begged for death, but it did not come to relieve them, not until long after they quit screaming, and the silence echoed unbearably.  
  
But still. Still one Titan continued to elude him. Aqualad. That Atlantian scum had caused him more trouble then the others put together.  
  
The foolish boy had been the one to rally the Atlantians to fight, rather than except his offer. He had warned them of the foolishness of excepting his proposal. And so he led the others in battle after battle against him. Trying futilely to save his people. They were doomed anyway. Their meager retorts were nothing to him. Not even a fly on the wall. They were nothing to him. Annoying at best. And soon they would all be dead.  
  
He grimaced, his mask hiding his expression as yet another member of his organization entered to interrupt his thoughts.  
  
"Forgive me Master Slade."  
  
"Yes, yes you fool. What is it?"  
  
"Sir..."  
  
"Well?! Spit it out! I have no time to sit and watch you dither!"  
  
"Sir, it's the Tameranian. She... asked to speak with you."  
  
"Are you certain? She has not spoken in some time. Are you sure she is not simply hallucinating?"  
  
"At first we thought so sir, but she seems quite lucid."  
  
"Very well. I will go and see what she has to say."  
  
"Yes sir." The man bowed and walked out.  
  
Well, well... I wonder what she could want. It's been so long since any of them spoke, I'm almost looking forward to this small meeting.  
  
Manipulating a few controls, he stepped out of the room, walking down the blank corridors to a small room filled with monitors. Each glowed an unearthly green, all focused on the same point in the room beyond.  
  
On every screen the same image played. The Tameranian sat rocking back and forth in the pitch black, her knees tucked to her chest.  
  
"Well?" Slade demanded. "Open the doors!"  
  
"Yes sir!" One of the scientists stood and escorted Slade to a small door.  
  
"The lights?" He demanded.  
  
"Sir, she has not been exposed to... The shock could severely..."  
  
"The lights! I will not walk into there without some means of illumination!"  
  
"Yes sir...!"  
  
Abruptly a harsh light streamed into the room. The girl screamed, hiding her eyes in her hands and shivering violently.  
  
Slade stepped into the room, ignoring the girl's whimpers of pain. "What is it?"  
  
She tucked her face into her knees. "The light... The light..."  
  
"Yes, what about it?" He asked, enjoying her discomfort.  
  
"Are... are..." Her voice was cracked and horse with disuse.  
  
"I have no time for this." Slade told her coldly. Turning he prepared to leave, but a hand on his boot caught him. He delivered a kick to the grasping hand, and the Tameranian recoiled into a corner of the room.  
  
"Are... The others... Are they dead?" She looked up, eyes running with tears. So dark. As dark as pools of ink. No feeling. Nothing. No emotion. She was broken. Had been for some time.  
  
It must have taken whatever sense of reality she had left to summon him. The others were so far gone it was a shock that she could speak plainly at all. He wasn't sure what forced her to ask, had it been him, he wouldn't have wanted an answer. He stopped for a moment, unsure what reponse would hurt her more.  
  
"Yes." He told her. Relishing her silence at his response, he left her alone in the dark once again.  
  
OOOOO  
  
_No reason to live... The others. Dead.  
  
I can't be alone anymore. I wish I could die.  
  
I know they're there. Waiting, in the darkness. They want to take me away. I can hear them talking. Whispering in those horrible voices. They're waiting... Waiting until I fall asleep. So they can take me away with them forever.  
  
So I have to stay awake. So they don't get me.  
  
But why? What is there to live for anymore? The others. Dead. All dead.  
  
Robin.  
  
Raven.  
  
Beast Boy.  
  
Cyborg.  
  
So why not me? Why am I left alone to suffer?  
  
Was he lying? What would he have to gain besides my pain?  
  
I had to know. Shouldn't have asked. But I couldn't keep sitting here... Alone, in the dark, without knowing.  
  
I can hear them now. Whispering now that the darkness has enclosed me once more.  
  
Stop it! Stop talking! Stop mumbling!  
  
I don't even know if I'm screaming, or if it's all in my head.  
  
Someone just end it all...  
  
End my suffering...  
  
Please...  
_  
OOOOO  
  
**Author's Note:** I guess it didn't get much better. Rather, it got worse. But at least you know what's been going on. Don't worry. They won't be alone much longer. Although, in their condition, that may not be a good thing... MysteryMaiden7 


	8. Rescue Mission

Chapter 8  
  
_"I'm in." I look around carefully, making sure no one is about to step into the hallway and discover me. Holding my communicator closer to my face I speak softly. "Commencing Stage 2."  
  
"Wait." I freeze as a response crackles over the link. "You do realize what you're about to do. It's not too late to pull out now."  
  
"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing." I drop the communicator to the ground and step on it, destroying the last link to my people.  
  
Now if Slade catches me, he won't be able to get to the rest of the resistance. I take a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. Yeah right. I'm so wound up, I'm jumping at the tiniest noise.  
  
I've been on so many missions. But somehow this one is different. I'm older. More experienced than I was.  
  
And if I don't succeed. This might be the end. The resistance is failing. We can't stop Slade. The Titans are our last hope. And I'm the only one that can rescue them.  
  
_OOOOO  
  
"Master, we've encountered a disturbance in the lower wings."  
  
Slade's eyes widened, his whole body instantly alert. "The lower wings?! Who-?!" He interrupted himself as the answer hit him. "Aqualad. That fool! Thinking that he alone can save the pitiful wretches that were once the Titans!"  
  
He slammed his hand down on the voice link that enabled him to speak to the rest of his organization. "Stop him! Immediately! If he escapes you all die!"  
  
Scrambling noises were heard outside his door as all available men ran to capture the 'disturbance'. He sat back in contemplation, unconsciously drumming his fingers along the arm of his chair.  
  
He must prepare himself for the worst. What if Aqualad did indeed manage to free the Titans, impossible though it seemed?  
  
He smirked silently to himself. He was welcome to them. Shells of their former selves. They were without feeling. Without emotion. Without anything, They were pitiful. Even if he did manage to free them, they would be of little, if any, use to him.  
  
He had to admire the boy's spirit though. He had eluded him longer than the others. And now he dared to challenge him in his own stronghold, alone, with nowhere to go if his plan failed.  
  
Quite a bit like Robin used to be.  
  
'Used to be' being the operative words. No longer. Now all he did was mumble to himself. For hours on end. A living nightmare. Exactly the way he'd planned it.  
  
The others were nothing. Sniveling little cowards. They weren't even worth the trouble it took to keep them alive. Yet he did.  
  
He had often questioned his choice to keep the Titans alive. He knew others did as well. Why he had was a question he asked himself over and over in the middle of the long nights.  
  
For entertainment surely. But tormenting them had long ago lost it's luster. Perhaps he need them as a reminder of what they once were. It was hard to look on them now and imagine them defying him. They were broken.  
  
If Aqualad did manage to get to them, he could have them.  
  
OOOOO  
  
A dark shadow dropped out of the beams above the head of two robots, slamming into them and disabling them without much noise.  
  
_Okay..._ Aqualad looked around brushing off his hands and wondering where to begin. He knew that Slade knew he was here. He had to know by now. Several groups of men and robots had already passed his various hiding places. Fortunately, none had thought to look up. He was safe for now, but he didn't know for how much longer.  
  
He had no idea where to start. Because of the immense danger it posed, the resistance had only managed to smuggle a spy into Slade's organization once. Unfortunately he had been discovered and... terminated. They were currently working on remedying that situation. But in the meantime they had only limited knowledge of what kind of weapons and traps that Slade had control of. He didn't know where to start looking for the Titans.  
  
_Well, standing here isn't helping anything._ He shifted the small bag on his back into a more comfortable position. He had been given a number of useful gadgets to prepare him for the worst.  
  
He knew the Titans had been captured since Slade's take-over had begun, so he was ready for anything. He also had a number of weapons on hand, in case the stealth method of breaking into the organization didn't work. He crept down the hallway, taking care to be quiet and not attract unwanted attention.  
  
He came to a plain metal door about half-way down the hallway. Looking both ways, he pressed a hand against it, feeling for the vibrations that would indicate people inside.  
  
He felt nothing, but that didn't always mean the coast was clear. Sticking a hand into his bag, he withdrew a pair of goggles. He put them on and pressed a button on the side of the head-piece.  
  
Suddenly he was able to see straight through the metal door. Tram had done a good job. (A/N: Tram was the little fish guy that was Aqualad's partner in the episode Deep Six.) The scanner would pick up any heat signatures inside, indicating people. He gave the room and through check, noting a few machines giving off small amounts of heat, but no people.  
  
Slowly he opened the door taking care to shut it silently behind him.  
  
OOOOO  
  
**Author's Note:** First off, I would like to say that this will be the last time for a long time that I update this story. I want to apologize to the people that actually bothered to take the time to read it. I want to give a heartfelt thanks to my number one best reviewer, StarfireRobin, who has been with me from the beginning and inspired me to start writing fanfiction in the first place. (If you haven't StarfireRobin's stories yet- Go! Do it now!) Also, I would like to apologize for leaving my characters in such a predicament. Although, if you have read my other story "The End Of The Beginning", you will already know how it turns out. Whenever my muse decides to visit me regarding this story, I will update it, but at the moment she seems to have gone on an extended vacation. I hope to start a new story on Inuyasha soon. Although I've seen less episodes than most I hope it will be a good story.  
  
MysteryMaiden7 


	9. Reactivation

Chapter 9  
  
The room was dark.  
  
The only light came from the softly glowing buttons on every machine. The soft humming of working machines filled the room, making my footsteps seem louder than they truly were.  
  
I crept past several machines, cautiously checking each corner for intruders before venturing around it myself. Perhaps I was being too cautious. But I would rather have been cautious than dead.  
  
Making my way into Slade's stronghold had been an unrivaled feat. But I needed to take it farther. I had to rescue the Titans.  
  
_The Titans._ Rumors circulated about what had truly happened to them. Most said Slade had killed them long ago. We chose to believe the more preposterous ones. The ones that claimed the Titans were still alive. Somewhere. Somewhere in the bowels of Slade's fortress.  
  
It was hard to think about what might happen if we didn't find the Titans. If the mission failed. The Atlantians were defeated. Even if Slade continued to fight us, in hopes of destroying us all, we already knew we fought a losing battle. Atlantis would fall.  
  
Our once proud civilization was going to be defeated. We had fought, long and hard. But it wasn't enough. Our people were dying. They had lost the will to battle long ago.  
  
But to save what we had left, we continued to push them until the end.  
  
There was little hope. Just one dream remained. And until recently, that was all it had been. A dream.  
  
We intercepted a communication several weeks back. A blurp of sound was all it really was. We immediately set to work cracking the encryption code. It took many days, but eventually we could understand the small fragment of information it gave us.  
  
_Titans._  
  
That was the part of the message that most interested us. The rest was unimportant. But this. This one word, gave us new hope. Hope that we might yet defeat Slade.  
  
And so, a mission was launched. And I was selected to carry it out.  
  
And so now, here I am, creeping through a virtual maze of death and torture, and the only real thing I know is that some little message contained the word _Titans_.  
  
It was becoming hard to summon the hopefulness my heart had contained since I left the others.  
  
But I had to keep going. If not for me, than for the rest of the resistance.  
  
I heard a noise, a tiny shift was all it was. Possibly a piece of metal sliding down a pile, or a tiny bolt grating against a machine.  
  
A few months ago, I would have ignored it. But I knew better now. The slightest movement, the most insignificant sound could mean certain death for you and the group you were commanding., I had learned that lesson the hard way.  
  
I fingered the healed scar on my temple, remembering in vivid clarity the day I got it.  
  
It had been one of my first missions. I was the youngest fighter there. But they trusted me.  
  
With a pang of guilt I remembered the team I had been a part of for such a short time.  
  
Our commanding officer had been Holom. He had been a leader for a long time and knew the mission like the back of his hand. We all trusted him.  
  
Selena. Everyone called her Bubbles. She was so sweet and happy all the time. Even the war hadn't dampened her spirits. She was our tech op. She was in charge of weaponry and technology to get us inside the base.  
  
And last, Darrel. He was our mercenary. Our trained killer. He could slice you seven ways and take off your head before you realized you were dead.  
  
That was the team. The mission was simple. Get into the base undetected. Steal weaponry, information, anything we could get our hands on. Once we were all back on the outside Bubbles would blow the whole place apart.  
  
Simple. We didn't ever think so much could go wrong. We were discovered. Captured. We fought, and lost. I escaped. The others died. Simple as that.  
  
_Simple._  
  
Right. Nothing is simple anymore. The whole world is made up of intermingling lies. The twists and turns alone can bring you to your knees.  
  
But we've learned to cope. Learned, or died.  
  
I slunk through the machines, backtracking to the source of the noise. I peered around a corner and my breath caught.  
  
_Cyborg!_  
  
He was alive. Or as alive as he could be. He had been deactivated. And a long time ago. No one had been near him for months, possibly years if the sheet of dust on him was any indication.  
  
I crept closer, my ears straining to hear any sound. Reaching into my pack I pulled out a power cell, silently thanking Tram for making sure I was so well prepared.  
  
_He's aged._ I noted silently. His brain may have been shut down, but his body continued to grow and change.  
  
I flipped him onto his side as silently as possible. Opening the hatch in his back proved more difficult. A layer of dust had developed and I was forced to blast away the hinges in order to open the door at all. I made ready to insert the power cell, but at the last minute, I set my hand over his mouth.  
  
If he screamed, we both died.  
  
Then I pushed the power cell in so the circuits connected. His body light up, the light casting a bluish tint over everything.  
  
His hands gripped and he grabbed my arm, flinging me over is head and into the wall next to him. I flipped to prevent any damage, but he had me by the neck before I could react, his cannon powering up.  
  
"Who are y-" He stumbled back after seeing my face. "Aqualad?"  
  
I nodded. "I'm here to rescue you."  
  
"What happened to you? You look so much-"  
  
"Older? That tends to happen when five years have gone by."  
  
"Five... years?"  
  
"You and the others were captured Cyborg. Don't you remember? Slade brought you here. It's been five years since that battle. Everyone assumed you were dead."  
  
"I... remember. They deactivated me. Shut me down. I don't remember anything else. What about the others?"  
  
"I don't know yet. I came here to save you all, but you were the first I found."  
  
I was surprised that he managed to except all this as calmly as possible. He had just lost five years of his life! Lived here in this smelly old room for five years, and he didn't seem to notice. Maybe it took some time to sink in.  
  
"Would you care to help me rescue the others? Or you can return now, I could show you the way to the boat..."  
  
"I'm not going anywhere without my friends."  
  
"Fine. Let's move, but we have to be quiet."  
  
He nodded hi understanding and I crept out from behind the machines, signaling to him when I finished scanning the room for intruders.  
  
We slunk into the hall again and I froze as I heard voices coming our way.  
  
"We'll have to fight them, we can't hide anymore." I could have, but I wasn't about to abandon another comrade.  
  
_"It wasn't your fault! You did what you could!"  
  
"But I left them! I could have saved them!"  
  
"The only thing that would have accomplished was getting you all killed!"  
  
"But they died anyway!"  
  
"And you lived. They knew what they were fighting for. They knew you stood the best chance of getting away- and you did!"  
  
"But if I had stayed-"  
  
"You all would have died."  
_  
I shook off the old memory, shivering at the chill it gave me. I had long since learned to deal with the guilt, but that didn't mean I would ever forget that mission.  
  
"Let's do this." Cyborg whispered beside me, powering up his cannon.  
  
OOOOO  
  
**Author's Note:** I know I haven't worked on this story for a while- but it hasn't been that long! I guess my muse decided to pay me a visit and help out a little. It's not that long, but better than nothing- right? I'm going to try and get another chapter out sometime, but if it's not soon, at least count on it being a long one.  
  
MysteryMaiden7 


	10. Raven

Chapter 10

Cyborg exploded around the corner with a strength and speed that surprised me, considering he had been inactive all those years. He shot point-blank blasts at each of the unfortunate guards we had come upon, killing each of them instantly.

I took out the final one with a series of kicks. When each of them had been taken down, we began dragging their bodies back to the storage room.

As we pulled the last of them inside and shut the door, I reflected that touching their dead bodies hadn't even phased me. A few years ago, I would have been horrified. Not any more. I had seen so much death and carnage, a few more dead didn't mean anything anymore.

I looked back at the closed door, hoping that no one would discover their bodies for some time. We would need all the time we could get.

We continued as silently as we could down the hallway, searching for the others.

Metallic. Cold. Lethal. Those were the words that sprung to mind as we crept through the unchanging hallways. Nothing seemed to change. The flicker of lights cast a harsh contrast of shadow and light intersecting across the floor.

The doors all looked the same. The hallways twisted and curved. It was hard to say how long we crept undetected through the bowels of Slade's stronghold. Hard to know in a place that never changes.

We snuck around the guards that we could. Took out the ones we couldn't. Hide their bodies. Kept going. Hours, minutes. No telling how long it went on.

A scream.

It wrenched through the silence as skillfully as if someone had stabbed us.

We leapt, turned, jerked around, searching to see if we had been discovered. Nothing. No one on either side of us. Silence. Cold and deafening surrounded us once again. Then...

Another scream.

The sound hit me with a jolt. Only one other time had I heard a noise so terrible.

I had been on a routine mission, searching out an abandoned site. It had already been evacuated and we were searching the rubble. It was quiet.

And then the scream. It sounded as horrible as the one that had sliced the silence moments before.

We had all drawn our weapons and gone searching for the source. An Atlantian as it turned out.

His leg was pinned beneath the rubble. His unearthly shriek continued as we tried to free him. His heart pounding, eyes terrified. In order to release him, we were finally ordered to tranquilize him.

He didn't survive the trip back to the base. He refused to eat, and his sleep was wracked with nightmares beyond imagining. He wouldn't even let anyone touch him. We, his own people, who would no more hurt him than injure ourselves.

Later we found out that he had been a member of an spy team sent to infiltrate the building and make it vulnerable to attack. We also learned that they had been discovered and captured. They had all been presumed dead.

But their fate had been much worse. Slade's methods of interrogation only existed in the deepest, darkest nightmares of the foulest creatures to ever cross the earth.

They didn't kill their victims- but they made them wish they had.

Another scream. This one weaker than the last. It spurred us into action.

Abandoning stealth in our desperation to save whatever was in such agony, we slammed the door open, and raced inside in a haze of fury.

Screams, cannon blasts, the thud of flesh hitting flesh.

The room was a blur of color. Our bodies and minds were on auto-pilot, desperately destroying anything that got in our way in an attempt to stay alive.

Finally, the haze lifted and I looked around to see the havoc we had wreaked.

Desks were overturned on the floor, the papers that had once sat upon them so orderly were scattered across the room. Bodies lay everywhere. There were more of them than I had first expected. Blood covered the floor, seeping from the open wounds in the bodies.

I winced, noticing for the first time that I was injured. A steady trickle of blood rolled down my arm from a deep cut near the shoulder.

I ignored it for the moment, focusing instead on finding the source of the whimpering sobs that continued somewhere in the room.

Cyborg was frozen beside me, his eyes fixed on a point somewhere in the corner of the room. Following his line of sight, I looked over to see...

"Raven..." I breathed, desperately wishing I wasn't seeing what I was. Raven lay huddled against the corner, making no move to escape, though the door was only a few feet from her and wide open.

Her eyes were wide. Terror, stark and unchanging flickered in their depths. I took one step toward her, unable to help myself. She gave a single, shrill shriek of terror and curled into herself.

"Oh god..." I dropped to my knees, unable to cope with the horror of what I was witnessing.

"Damnitt!" Cyborg yelled suddenly. "What the hell did those fuckers do to her?!"

When I didn't answer, he grabbed me by the front of my shirt and slammed me against one of the machines that hadn't been overturned during our initial attack.

"_What in the hell happened to Raven?!_"

"They... broke her." I said numbly, unable to tear my eyes away from the fragile creature who curled, trembling into a corner.

"Broke her?" Cyborg repeated, dropping me back to the ground with a frozen look on his face.

I sat, staring at Raven for a few more moments before the sting of my wound brought me back to myself. We would all die here if we didn't get moving. I leaned over and ripped the hem of a jacket on the scientist, torturer, nearest me. Ignoring the blood stains, I wrapped it around my arm, stopping the bleeding, at least temporarily.

I stood and grabbed my bag off the floor, reaching inside to grab the tiny gun inside. I yanked it out and checked the capsules inside before clicking off the safety and pointing it at Raven.

Cyborg launched himself at me just as I pulled the trigger, sending my first shot wild and causing Raven to begin screaming again.

"_What the hell are you doing?!_"

I wrenched away, shoving him off me. "I have to tranquilize her you idiot! We'll never get her out of here in the state she's in! She won't even let us touch her anymore! The only way we're going to get her out of here is to drug her for the time being. If I thought I could get close enough to do this with a needle I would, but she's so terrified that would probably make things worse."

Cyborg's eyes dulled, the anguish showing in every line of his face. "I'm sorry. You're right."

I nodded, excepting the apology and carefully aimed the gun at Raven once again, trying hard not to notice the look of terror in her eyes and face. I shot her in the shoulder. Her body jerked once before she slumped to the floor unconscious.

As I replaced the gun in my bag, Cyborg scooped Raven off the floor, cradling her like a child. She looked so small. She had changed as well. My worry for her had kept me from noticing before.

Her hair was longer now, reaching past her shoulders. Her cloak was a dull gray color, and her skin was milky white. She was taller, and she had grown into a young women rather than the awkward teen she had been.

Cyborg shifted her, still being extremely careful with the fragile creature that Raven had become. "Let's go."

I nodded, and we stepped out into the hall. We looked both ways and Cyborg set off down the hall. I stopped and placed a small silver capsule in the doorway of the destroyed lab.

The capsule glowed faintly, then a door seemed to spring up from nowhere, covering the hole our abrupt entrance had made.

The holographic door wouldn't stand up to close inspection, it was only light being projected from the capsule, your hand would pass directly through it- but it would work if no one bothered to look at it too closely, and it might buy us a few minutes.

I stood, hurrying to rejoin Cyborg before I lost him and Raven in the never-ending hallways.

OOOOO

**Author's Notes: **I really don't mean to be so morbid. I just start typing and I get so serious... But I really do want to make it seem like the Titans were going through hell before they were rescued. So, slowly but surely, Aqualad is saving each of them. The reason I didn't make Cyborg all traumatized, the way Raven is, is because he's been shut down these last few years. He didn't have to go through what the others did. He was just _there_. Nothing really happened to him after they deactivated him. I hope you enjoyed the newest chapter- this story is going to take a while. I hope no one gets too bored by me before this is over.

And, as always, my review responses: **BubbleBean022 **(I hope this chapter was long enough to satisfy your curiosity! Don't forget to keep reviewing! I love constructive criticsm!), **VashTheStampede7123 **(It's nice to have a new reviewer once in a while! It's nice to get some new opinions!), **Blowfish the Monkey Tamer **(Wow! I'm glad you think so highly of this story! I worry a bit that I'm getting too serious sometimes...), **StarfireRobin **(Thanks for the comnstant support! You know I'll always value your opinion!), **VeryUnique(!) **(I know you don't like the Raven&Beast Boy thing, but deal- because that's the way it's gonna' be!)

MysteryMaiden7


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